Donner Talks Constantine

Lauren Shuler Donner, who is producing the upcoming comic-book film adaptation Constantine, told SCI FI Wire that the movie is based on the DC Comics Hellblazer series, but won't be an origin story. "It's not an origin story of the character," played by Keanu Reeves, Donner said in an interview while promoting her next movie, Timeline. "It's 'Dangerous Habits,' if you know the Hellblazer [series]."

"Dangerous Habits," the 1994 graphic novel by Irish writer Garth Ennis, focuses on John Constantine, a magician faced with death from lung cancer, who finds himself straddling the line between life and death, heaven and hell. "We're filming," Donner said. "We're about a third into it. It's come along great. And it'll be out next year, probably, well, at the moment, September."

Donner added, "We're shooting in L.A. A lot at Warner Brothers. A lot downtown. Two weeks we're in Long Beach. And we're trying to stay as true to the comic as we can, though it's an obscure comic. Not many people know Hellblazer. And it's coming along well. We have a new director named Francis Lawrence, who's just doing a great job. We're very lucky, because he understands actors and understands the importance of telling a story, and not just the visuals. And yet it's going to be very stylish."